Skimming along the surface of the water and performing a series of impressive jumps and spins, you'd be forgiven for thinking that this German wakeboarder was showing off his array of tricks at one of the picturesque lakes of lower Saxony.

But the talented teenager is in fact being pulled by a car through a tide of torrential floodwaters deluging a road in the town of Rossau in the east of the country.

While most have been cursing the flooding that has devastated parts of central Europe and desperately trying to protect their homes and livelihoods from rising floodwaters, 16-year-old Ariano Blanik decided to use the inclement conditions to practice a series of slick wakeboarding moves on a country road close to his home.

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Talented: Ariano Blanik uses severe flooding in the Saxony area of Germany to show off his wakeboarding skills

Showing off: The 16-year-old zips across the surface of the water as he is pulled along by a car in Saxony over the weekend

Ariano is seen to complete a series of 180 degree spins on his board, sometimes holding the rope with one hand, spinning around completely at one stage and having the awareness to duck under a tree obscuring part of his sidewalk route.

He eventually comes to a halt as he coolly slides up the bank and lets go of the tow rope, maintaining his balance and coming to a perfect stop.

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His efforts have so far won many admirers on the social networking site, having been shared almost 12,000 times.

But the recent torrential rain hasn't been quite so much fun for most in large parts of central Europe.

A young British couple have spoken of their devastation after their Austrian home was wrecked by the flooding.

Box of tricks: Ariano is seen performing an impressive array of stunts and tricks on the wakeboard

Impressive: Maintaining perfect balance during his 180 degree twist, Ariano glides along the water while holding the tow wire one-handed

Phil Durrant, 25, and his girlfriend Jessica Hawkins, 18, moved to Huttau in Austria to work as ski instructors last December.

But Mr Durrant told how he woke up on Sunday morning to an 'almighty crash' before feeling their house shaking and thinking he was in the middle of an earthquake.

Mr Durrant, originally from Burgess Hill, Sussex, said: 'It was 8 o'clock in the morning and we were asleep.

'I heard an almighty crash and then more strange noises.

'The house was shaking like we were in an earthquake I got up and went to the front door and could see it was completely gone.

Winning fans: Blanik has won many admirers for his wakeboarding skills with almost 12,000 people sharing his video on Facebook

Submerged: Large parts of central Europe have been left underwater after days of torrential rain caused devastating flooding. Pictured is the city of Passau in lower Bavaria

'I could see daylight filling the house part of the wall in the corridor had been completely ripped off.

'I told my girlfriend to grab her shoes and jacket and we ran out the back door.'

Mr Durrant said they live near a small river but that most of the damage came from a landslide which slipped down the surrounding mountains carrying with it trees and rocks, which had then smashed into their home.

His car is left crushed under the balcony of his home but luckily his passport which was in the glove box survived intact.

A local guesthouse run by a British couple are putting Mr Durrant and his girlfriend up until they can find somewhere else to live.

Lucky escape: British Couple Phil Durrant and Jessica Hawkins saw their house destroyed in a landslide caused by flooding in Austria

Destroyed: Phil Durrant and Jessica Hawkins house which had one of the walls completely ripped off

Devastating: The view from the young couple's house in Austria

Wrecked: Phil Durrant's car was crushed under the balcony of the house as it collapsed

Mr Durrant said: 'It had rained continuously for about three or four days but that isn't unusual for this time of year.

'Sometimes the rivers do burst their banks but the local people I have spoken to say nothing like this has happened for more than 100 years.

'There are scenes of complete devastation. It is just an unusually catastrophic chain of events.'I keep thinking about things I have left in the house and realising I am never going to see them again.'

He added that he managed to save his 90-year-old neighbour who was extremely distressed by carrying her over her garden fence to safety.

Mr Durrant said: 'It was terrifying as you didn't know when the next surge would be. 'The mudslide had obviously gauged out some of the earth.

Defence: Bundeswehr soldiers stack sandbags to strengthen a dam on the outskirts of the city against the rising Saale river in Halle, Germany

Clean up: German army Bundeswehr soldiers clear the streets of water and mud before the visit of German Chancellor Angela Merkel to the south-eastern Bavarian city of Passau yesterday

'We live in a four-storey house and usually there is a couple who live in the cellar which has been converted, they had left for work 15 minutes before, it is so lucky as now those rooms are just completely covered by rubble.

'It is a miracle no one here was seriously hurt.'

Parts of the Czech Republic, Austria, Poland and Germany have been left completely submerged after days of steady rain in the worst flooding to hit the area in more than a decade.

In Germany, about 10,000 people have been evacuated from their homes in low-lying areas of Saxony and thousands more from parts of Bavaria.

Deluge: An aerial shot of the Prague Zoo flooded by the swollen river Vltava yesterday

Damage: Rising waters from several rivers in Austria have inundated parts of the country after days of heavy rainfall. Flood damage in Huttau is pictured

There have been 12 deaths since the weekend across the region with the latest two reported in the south German town of Guenzburg, on the Danube.

Carmaker Volkswagen temporarily shut its plant in Zwickau, in the eastern German state of Saxony, because the flooding stopped workers reaching the factory.

Some 600 people in the city of Dresden have evacuated their homes today as the River Elbe continues to rise, with levels not set to peak until Thursday.

Electricity has also been turned off in some parts of the city.

Forecasters said receding rains would help water levels to drop across the Czech Republic, but that parts of Germany, Slovakia and Hungary, would be hit in the coming days.

The last time central Europe saw similar floods was in 2002, when 17 people were killed in the Czech Republic, and damage estimated at 20 billion euros ($26 billion) was inflicted across the region.

Crushed: A car is completely smashed after floodwaters devastated parts of Austria

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Wakeboarder surfs across German road as floods continue to devastate parts of central Europe